Smart home
The market for smart home products and installations is young, vibrant and very broad. So much so, that it can be rather hard to define. It ranges from high-end, custom-made home automation systems that control many applications for heating, lighting, security and entertainment from an integrated central app, to small off-the-shelf solutions like a single light bulb controlled through an app on your phone.
This interesting market is still in its infancy, which means there are great and many opportunities for manufacturers and brands who aim to produce innovative smart home products. At the same time, this young and rapidly developing market can be rather volatile and poses many challenges. Its playing field is constantly changing, for instance. The constant stream of new developments and innovations, and the many new and unknown players can make it hard to stay ahead of the game.
Challenges USP can help you overcome
We have conducted many studies to help a diversity of clients succeed in the in the smart home market, which can roughly be segmented into heating, lighting, security and entertainment. Questions they were struggling with included:
- Who decides on smart home solutions and who influences them?
- Who are your competitors and how can you stay ahead of them?
- How are prices influenced by large online players in this market?
- What trends influence this market and what opportunities do they create?
Trends in and influencing the smart home market
In its earliest form, this market consisted of a high-end segment of home automation systems fur wealthy early adaptors, resulting in an image of being expensive and high end. That is clearly not the case any more, and smart home products and systems are now available in broader price ranges for a more general public.
Availability to a broad public does not automatically mean broad adoption though. The rise of smart home has not been the revolution smart devices are often hyped to be, at least not in every segment. In 2019, half of European consumers did not have any smart home products in their home, for instance. Some segments of smart home products are only now kicking off, often influenced by larger trends.
The quest for sustainability and a healthy climate is a good example of larger trends influencing the smart home market. This call was answered by a vast array of smart home devices that help save energy either directly, for instance a smart thermostat, or indirectly, like a system to automatically open or close curtains and windows to create a healthy indoor climate and replace an energy-consuming air conditioning.
Like sustainability, major trends like labour shortage or the ageing population are of influence. Installers need time to get familiar with new smart home systems and learn to program them. Time is often absent because schedules are full due to labour shortages. Meanwhile, since smart products are generally more easily adopted by younger generations, an ageing population of both installers and consumers is harder to convince that smart home systems are worth the investment.
Aside from major trends, small scale trends, like a rise in burglaries in a certain area can influence the market as well. This complex interplay of trends and influences shows that to make it in the smart home market, solid and up-to-date market intelligence is essential.
Research USP often conducts related to smart home
- Market exploration research
- Market segmentation research
- Product development research
- Customer journey research
- Driver analysis
Latest news around smart home
We frequently publish news articles based on our latest market studies. Read our most recent articles about the smart home market below.
Building Construction Decision Making: Who’s in Control?
Context is key
To create an overview of market developments and provide context for client-specific researches, USP Marketing Consultancy has developed several monitors. We continuously research market developments and effects of key trends like labour shortage among architects, contractors, HVAC installers, electrical installers, painters and end-consumers, of which reports are published quarterly, semi-annually or annually.
Discover opportunities for your brand
Do you want to know how trends change your target groups’ demand, attitudes, perspectives and decision-making criteria, and whether your brand and products are answering their needs? Do you want to learn how you can make your customers’ lives easier whilst adding value to your brand? USP Marketing Consultancy specialises in various types of market research that can answer these questions, like customer satisfaction, driver analysis, customer journey, product development research, and many more.
Contact us
For more information about our expertise and research on building materials please contact the responsible partner below.
We look forward to help you.
Contact our expert:
Dirk Hoogenboom
